Slow cooked stew. Soaked chick peas, onion, celery, red pepper, cut yam pieces, fresh tomato, skinned and chopped, asparagus pieces with water, bay leaf, salt, pepper, savory spice mix. at end, basamic vinegar and olive oil dressing.

first day by itself with oven french fries. next day,

served over basmati rice. some fresh garlic would have been nice I think - I had none and only a garlic sea salt can not eat.

since am adding after the fact, it sounds like a good combination for a food stew. One of the things I want to talk about with women is the cooking thing.


devotimentalististic  counsellors are fullof shit - if the mother comments on how pretty a girl is, is sets up a "thing" that black people are ugly - etc... it makes Mom feel like she is so bad, she felt like SAME  issue is going  on...

Cauliflower cooking

Cabbage, onions, Cauliflower, carrots, and celery sauteed in olive oil. Balsamic dressing added at end. Over basmati rice. alt to taste at end.

mango with orange squeezed over as a desert.

Day Two of the Thyrogen Shot

In general am very happy that I no longer have to go to the day job which was so stressful. Sometimes I think that is what caused this cancer - and peoples' cancer in general - stress and the unseen crap in the air no one wants to talk about - that besides the crap in most of the food we eat. Our company employees seem to come up with strange cancers much more than most of us hear about in others within our extended families and friends. Old time printing ink? What did they do with it and the chemicals that cleaned the presses over a hundred years ago? What is lurking in a brick building, literally over the river, that is 150 years old? What lurks in those cube walls and cheap paint used over and over.

Anyhow, the first two days of unemployment have been spent going to hospital to take the Thyrogen. First day had no reaction other than ability to take a nap in afternoon! Never do that. Also slept well last night, again not "normal". Today's shot seems also ok but do have a slight headache. Have noticed some headaches in the background of my head when normal pain meds for arthritis have been forgotten, but this one seems some different.

Food has been better this week. ALMOST used to this low iodine diet - not! It is better and today, three days later than when I made and wrote about that stew, I just had some for lunch. Last day I think I can eat it, although I had frozen some for next week. One great thing about vegetarian food, it lasts a lot longer than anything with meat products in it. Then, take out dairy and it can last for a very long time. It tasted much better today. Had it along with some matzo crackers dipped in a very good tomato/raisin (salt less) chutney.

Have wanted to write here more. Think of things throughout day think would be useful here in case anyone ever read it, but since I never tell anyone about this blog... nevermind! Was happy today to find some information from patients on this same treatment that was actually dated 2010. So far everything I ever find is at least two years old. I guess I need to add some other than this non-advertised blog...

For the Love of a Potato

Had a different salad for lunch and it was just boring. I find that the lemon and olive oil is just not making it. The regular salad I had the day before with lettuce and all was good with the dressing, although I took out most of the lettuce. It was just too chewy, not crisp. I find I am really getting sick of lettuce like so many fruits and veggies not "the same" anymore.

So, this morning I made up a salad of tomatoes, blanched then chilled zucchinni, scallions, olives (non salted - rather strange!) and celery. Looked wonderful. Covered it with the lemon and olive oil dressing with salt, pepper, and the garlic herb spice. Let it sit for hours until dinner.

Was looking forward to it but when dinner time came, ate only a third of it. The dressing was just not good for that combo of veggies I guess. I do understand that my taste buds may be off due to the cancer, synthroid and the thyrogen but still. I do find it weird sometimes how my tastebuds are just not the same, so maybe there is some truth to it.

In the end. I ate because it was good for me. However, I find that my organic yukon gold potatoes, sliced like french fries and covered in olive oil then roasted/baked in oven for a half hour has become my favorite food! I seem to think of eating them morning noon and night, but don't. Also am loving radishes plain. More foods I like plain than trying to make them "interesting". Just add a bunch of non-iodized salt and go for it!

Food Equals Fuel

OK, yes I agree with the title and have been working on getting it more into my life. Have been looking at this "opportunity" to see all my food this way due to this low idodine diet have had to keep too.

But, in general, and especially today, I MISS BUTTER!!!! I also miss other things, but butter seems to be the biggest and most FLAVORFUL ingredient to any vegetarian cooking. We won't get into other issues right now, like missing the flavor of some soy meat substitute flavors. Butter, as a base of soups and stews is just necessary.

Well, maybe not "necessary" according to many diets,but man... this morning I took a left over veggie prepared in olive oil a day ago and turned it into a stew. IS "good" and healthy and wonderful in it's own right, but it needs butter! It needs, if not butter, than something with the meal of it including cheese. ugh... this diet may kill me. Well, actually, I think with including an organic (not GMO) soy sausage or like that would make it better, but butter is the most missing!

Anyhow, I piled the leftover sauteed swiss chard, celery, mushroom, with onion veggie that I made  the other night into a soup pan. I added cups of water (the swisschard (some parts of it) as it had seemed a little tough even though decent flavor previously. I cut into it, pieces of carrots, potatoes, more onions, celery salt and pepper and bay leaf. Cooked that for a half hour and added, skinned tomatoes, frozen lima beans and more non iodised salt, pepper aAnd some wild with white rice. Cooked that for another 10-15 minutes and turned off.

Let that sit for awhile and then finally ate. Good, but STILL bland to some extent! Missed the butter. Sorry all you vegans... A few pieces of swisschard were still hard so as I ate it, I moved those aside. I ate it with the thought "this is good for me. I need this. I can not have anything else. I spent an hour or more cooking it and cleaning kitchen. EAT this!" so I did. but I missed the butter....

Cause of the Cancer

Every day is a different emotion. Mostly been ignoring this all and sloughing it off like it is nothing to everyone. But when alone, I do go through other things. I guess partly because am winding down my 20 year job this week and some worrying about what the "next life" will be, I do not want to think about this other elephant in the room. But more the last few days I have pondered how did I get this cancer? (other than my karma which I know is the overall answer!)

They say this is not a common cancer and so curable, but then if I have had none of the 5 typical reasons they say one gets this cancer, why do I have it? Plus, lately it seems I am running into more and more people diagnosed with odd cancers or health problems - even some dying too much lately. We are not THAT old!

So, today I was reading my latest email from Mother Jones magazine and came upon this. I have just copied a little of it, the paragraphs that got me going, but the title links to full article. Notice how this one chemical is BANNED IN EUROPE but not here! (and we are so "developed'?) I spent a few years cleaning houses once a long time ago. I spent 10 years in a house down stream from a metal gear making plant.... These kinds of cancers take a long time to develop - so maybe I got this from cleaning products!

"Which Household Cleaners Contain Secret Toxic Ingredients?

"What we do know: Many common ingredients pose risks both to humans and the environment. Alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs), which are used as "surfactants" to make cleaning solutions spread over a surface smoothly, are an endocrine disruptor and are banned in Europe."

So I followed the link describing what an "endocrine disruptor" is, since my whole health program is now managed by an Endocrinologist. Here are the clips that got me:

"Nonylphenol is a toxic xenobiotic[*] compound classified as an endocrine disrupter capable of interfering with the hormonal system of numerous organisms. .... Nonylphenol ethoxylates [in the cleaning products rinsed down our drains] reach sewage treatment works in substantial quantities where they biodegrade into several by-products including nonylphenol. Due to its physical–chemical characteristics, such as low solubility and high hydrophobicity, nonylphenol accumulates in environmental compartments that are characterised by high organic content, typically sewage sludge and river sediments, where it persists. The occurrence of nonylphenol in the environment is clearly correlated with anthropogenic activities such as wastewater treatment, landfilling and sewage sludge recycling. ...

"The impacts of nonylphenol in the environment include feminization of aquatic organisms, decrease in male fertility and the survival of juveniles at concentrations as low as 8.2 μg/l. Due to the harmful effects of the degradation products of nonylphenol ethoxylates in the environment, the use and production of such compounds have been banned in EU countries and strictly monitored in many other countries such as Canada and Japan."

and, I see these are still included in laundry softeners, detergents and other cleaning products claiming in America they did not ban because, basically, our sewage treatment plants are so good. Yeah, well I wonder, what WAS that horrible looking yellowish crap that piled up into the river near my old home in Palmyra? I wonder more and more about these kinds of things since I found the 10 years I lived there with my daughter and I thought I was giving her a "good healthy place" to live, in reality, the half acre of grass yard was what gave her the horrible colds and sicknesses all those year. What - may the water have done this to me?

*xenobiotic: a chemical compound (as a drug, pesticide, or carcinogen that is foreign to a living organism

Third Day, Smaller Hissy Fit

The old gang has decided to have 2nd Friday at Ralph's house on June 25, so Bonnie can be there, and we all see her. I was not sure I could go since it is two days after small radiation dose and the same day as the body scan. Called Dr. He is so cute. Says I can go for that one, unless I want to use him as an excuse not to go. hahahaha! I replied, "Boy do you know me..." He says, "Yes, I know all my patients." Good one, Doc! I will go to this party so I can see Bonnie. Just won't eat anything (ugh that is harder and harder) and will not hug a lot. Will take my own dinnerware kind of thing. He did not say I had too, but for heavens sake, there is no way I want to chance giving anyone any dose of radiation. We are all getting older and more sensitive. I think, at least two or three of them have had some form of cancer "at our age" already.

Glad am taking tomorrow off as it sick day. It WILL be a mental health day. I can call some of these people I owe so much money too and whine about it and/or pay my bills that I can. I am so far behind it is ridiculous. Feel like I did years ago when had the house with so many bills. Now, it is health bills. Ugh. Always something. Cooked a good dinner last night but had hissy fits again - whether pressure from daughter and her phone shit - or just another something from food weirdness. By the time I got it all cooked, I only ate a small amount, as was just tired of the whole thing, but was good in the end. Roasted yams, onions, mushrooms, cauliflower, red peppers, a salad of tomatoes, green onions, cucumber with lemon/olive oil vinegrete dressing -  steamed asparagus (which was the best part of dinner!) and two slices of the special bread with peanut butter. Also made cabbage salad with radishes, onions, and leftover salad from the night for lunch today. It is like ekadasi every day around here....

First Day Low Iodine Diet

Here we are. Happy Monday! I am starting my new diet for two or three weeks. A low/no iodine diet for thyroid radiation treatment diet. I went  to grocery store yesterday and buying just enough veggies and fruits, since I had rice and noodles and like that, it cost over $80, for one person, for a week! Man, no wonder poor people are unhealthy and fat. Even middle class people actually - if they have a family or don't spend money on anything but food.

I soaked my first bit of dried beans overnight. This morning I will have home cooked oatmeal with strawberries and honey - no milk. Seems breakfast will be my hardest meal. or, being Monday, and having to go to work, I wonder if I will have time to cook the oatmeal! Might be banana and two pieces of the special bread with peanut butter.

Also realized this morning that last night I should have cooked the beans in a stew then because now, what am I going to take for lunch? Can't buy anything there. Oh! I could buy a salad and just use the oil and vinegar they have there with no salt. So many foods, actually, ALL foods prepared by others have so much salt I was amazed when really started looking at it.

Suppose if I do get used to this diet, it will be the healthiest I have eaten since the '70s. Maybe I could stay with it more and/or longer. at least be better at what I eat.

OK, already angry at the store because the strawberries I bought yesterday have mold on them this morning! Geez... would say that is a little too old - should have bought the ones that looked more irradiated and/or sprayed. Ha - these are probably not so chemicalized but if I can not eat them, so what?

I need to restart actually offering my food more with prayers. If offered maybe it will see all that chemical reaction taken away as well as the reaction from killing the plants to eat like the Bhagavatam says. One weird thing is generally concentrating so MUCH on food! It has been enough for 40 years to concentrate on just being vegetarian and offering prayers with it to various extents. All of a sudden I am back into only thinking about it - how to cook, what not to eat, what has it got in it, what can make it have more taste. Whew.

Went to the Indian resturant last night with a friend to have one last big, salty, dairy infused meal. It was good but I had to laugh, tasted too salty! I had said I did not want to go back there as last time it was not very good. It had too many "sticks" in it, the herbs. This time was cooked better, but was really too salty. Everything was over salted. My taste buds are so changed already, what will it be like in a few weeks? The dahl was delicious again and later I enjoyed the savories while watching a movie ;-)

Second Day Low Iodine Diet

Seems dinner is the hardest meal for me. Seemed to think lunch and afternoon snack time would be the most difficulet but dinner has been the scene for the most break downs so far.

I did not want to make stuff I had here as the thought of it all without any butter nor cheese made me not want anything. I gave into six more of those wonderful pretzels I have here. I think I have to get rid of them.

Then later, when really needed something dinner like, I did not want to do the hour or more of cooking. I mean, by then, it was 8pm. After all the phone calls, I got two pieces of the special bread (which is very good - thank goodness - at $4 a loaf, it had better be!) and a bowl of fruit, banana, melon and mango. That was really good, but am sick of fruit in some ways already. It is so sweet! I do not eat that much "sweet" stuff normally, no matter what, and hardly use sugar itself.

In the end I could eat that though - bread with only peanut butter. Eczema does not seem any better, nor any worse, for having no dairy. After three days, if it was the dairy, I think it would be better. We'll see.

Going for the Big Cure

Have not posted in awhile. Thought, again, might just stop altogether as needs to be a constant thing and I am so irregular. Also, so much going on in my life can not think of how to write about it. Started with the 750Words site to do my morning pages and do like it. Abit of a bug with my browser but I have a good work around now. Takes a lot less time than by hand and there is no evidence lying around of what I have written. I like the privacy factor! 

My medical team has decided it would be best for me to take the radiation treatment therapy and  I will be doing that in two weeks. Starting this Monday I start a two week low iodine diet and I am sure will be posting about that regularly here as it sounds worse than the treatment itself! I have pasted the blurb about my treatment here as I found it to be the best description of what is going on. Plus it is pretty positive so makes me feel better when I reread it! OK, on to find SOMETHING I will be able to eat next two weeks other than just plain rice and veggies ;-)

 From the Endocrineweb

The Use of Radioactive Iodine Post-Operatively

Thyroid cells are unique in that they have the cellular mechanism to absorb iodine. The iodine is used by thyroid cells to make thyroid hormone. No other cell in the body can absorb or concentrate iodine. Physicians can take advantage of this fact and give radioactive iodine to patients with thyroid cancer. There are several types of radioactive iodine, with one type being toxic to cells. Papillary cancer cells absorb iodine and therefore they can be targeted for death by giving the toxic isotope (I-131). Once again, not everybody with papillary thyroid cancer needs this therapy, but those with larger tumors, spread to lymph nodes or other areas, tumors which appear aggressive microscopically, and older patients may benefit from this therapy. This is extremely individualized and no recommendations are being made here or elsewhere on this web site...too many variables are involved. But, this is an extremely effective type of "chemotherapy" will little or no potential down-sides (no hair loss, nausea, weight loss, etc.).